UAE and South Korea boost bilateral trade

The UAE-Korea Business and Investment Forum, held in Seoul on the sidelines of the official visit of President His Highness Sheikh Mohamed Bin Zayed Al Nahyan to the Republic of Korea, concluded on Tuesday.

In the presence of Dr Thani Bin Ahmed Al Zeyoudi, Minister of State for Foreign Trade, an economic delegation of Emirati public- and private-sector representatives attended the UAE-Korea Business and Investment Forum. Organised by the UAE’s Ministries of Investment and Economy, in collaboration with the UAE Embassy in Seoul and Korea’s Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy, the Forum sought to expand the two nations’ trade and commercial relations in high-growth sectors such as energy, ICT, logistics and manufacturing.

Dr Al Zeyoudi said that economic ties between the UAE and the Republic of Korea are witnessing robust growth across all major sectors owing to the joint will of the leaderships of both sides.

During his address to the Forum, Dr Al Zeyoudi championed the potential of deeper ties between the UAE and Korea, citing their shared vision for open, rules-based trade, strategic investment and technological development. He said, “With an advanced, digitised economy, attractive business ecosystem and world-leading manufacturing sector, Korea is a hugely important trade and investment partner for the UAE as we seek to secure a new era of growth. The UAE-Korea Business and Investment Forum will serve to enhance bilateral ties by promoting bilateral trade, facilitating two-way FDI, and enhancing collaboration across a range of economic sectors, including energy, advanced manufacturing, technology, food security and healthcare.”

“Our nations are long-standing friends and we look forward to building on today’s conversations and delivering long-lasting benefits for our respective economies,” he added.

Dr Al Zeyoudi invited the private sectors in both nations to capitalise on the two nations’ many economic synergies, which include world-class logistics infrastructure, connectivity, ease of doing business and specialised free zones. He highlighted the UAE’s recent $30 billion investment commitment to Korea and the success of the Korean-built Barakah nuclear power plant in Abu Dhabi as evidence of growing economic integration.

InKyo Cheong, Korea’s Minister for Trade, said, “The Business Forum provides an important platform for business leaders from both countries to share insights, experiences and objectives. It allows our private sectors to discover new opportunities for investment and cooperation, and expand and strengthen economic cooperation between our two countries. Our government will continue to support these endeavours and work to ensure that bilateral relations produce tangible results long into the future.”

Abdulla Mohammed Al Mazrouei, Chairman of the UAE Federation of the Chambers of Commerce and Industry, said, “The UAE and the Republic of Korea have developed a remarkable strategic partnership, fuelled by closely aligned development ambitions that place knowledge and innovation at the heart of our futures, with investment in education and human resources a key priority. This is reflected in both increasing trade volumes and the increase in bilateral investment flows, which now span a diverse set of economic sectors, including metals, manufacturing, logistics, and information and communications technology. We look forward to expanding economic cooperation and further strengthening what is already a robust relationship.”

While in Seoul, Dr Al Zeyoudi also held talks with Korean Minister of Trade Inkyo Cheong where the two sides discussed ways to build on the $5.3 billion in non-oil trade the nations shared in 2023, which maintained the record levels achieved in 2022. The meeting was held in the presence of Al Mazrouei and Juma Mohammed Al Kait, Assistant Under-Secretary at the UAE Ministry of Economy for Foreign Trade Affairs.

Hosting over 250 public- and private-sector representatives, the UAE-Korea Business and Investment Forum featured three main sessions to accelerate cooperation across key sectors, including ‘Exploring Clean Energy Partnerships’, ‘Bridging Innovation in ICT and Telecoms’, and ‘Streamlining Trade: Logistics, Manufacturing and Free Trade’. The role of the Forum as a platform for bilateral collaboration was underlined by the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between the UAE’s TECOM Group and Korea’s Meditox to enhance cooperation in areas of mutual interest.

The visiting delegation to Seoul included over 60 participants, including senior federal and local government officials, in addition to representatives of a number of major UAE companies operating in various sectors, including logistics, industry, energy, technology, healthcare, environment, agriculture, food security and financial services.

 WAM